Anuj Rawat hit 29 runs in just 11 balls in the last over.Image Credit source: AFP
New Delhi: One of the many specialties of IPL is that here on any given day someone becomes zero or zero to hero. The tournament’s 16-season history has seen dozens of instances where legends of world cricket flop at times but young and unknown players leave an impact in some form or the other. Anuj Rawat made a similar impact on behalf of Royal Challengers Bangalore, who contributed to Bangalore’s tremendous victory on the basis of all-round performance.
So far in this season, the performance of left-handed wicket-keeper batsman Anuj Rawat was not at all good as per the expectations. Only 39 runs came out of his bat in 5 innings. However, he was constantly being criticized and questions were constantly being raised on the Bangalore team management. Despite this, Bangalore gave him opportunities.
The question arose again, answered in 11 balls
He was also retained in the playing XI in the match against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Sunday and questions were also raised on this. After several failures, finally in this match, Anuj was able to justify the trust of the team. That too at a time when the team needed the most. Batting first, Bangalore scored only 137 runs in 17.3 overs and all its big batsmen were out.
In such a situation, the danger of settling on a small score was looming in front of Bangalore. Then came Anuj Rawat and changed the situation facing 11 of the remaining 15 balls. In these 11 balls, Anuj hit 3 fours and 2 sixes and hit an unbeaten 29, which was his biggest score. On this basis, Bangalore was able to reach a strong score of 171.
💗 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧
The Anuj Rawat direct-hit that left everyone in disbelief 🔥🔥
Check out the dismissal here #TATAIPL , #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/2GWC5P0nYP
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 14, 2023
Amazing in wicketkeeping too
It is said that the effect of good performance in one place is also visible in other places. The same was seen in Anuj’s case as well and he showed his mettle in wicketkeeping. In the second over, when Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson played a very high shot, Anuj Rawat ran for the catch. Fast bowlers Wayne Parnell and Glenn Maxwell were also near the ball and Anuj stopped seeing them. But both the players had already stopped and then Anuj ran again and took the catch.
After this, without looking at the wicket, Anuj played a big role in getting Bangalore another success by running out Ravichandran Ashwin by hitting the ball into the stumps from between the legs. Anuj and Bangalore will hope that he can repeat such performance in the next matches as well if needed.
